


Misperceptions

by FrozenMemories



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: Episode Related, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff (kind of?), M/M, s12e18 Malice in Wonderland
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 08:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18385034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenMemories/pseuds/FrozenMemories
Summary: A retelling of 'Malice in Wonderland' from David's point of view - with a twist:What if David's mom was led to believe he was dating Nick instead of Morgan?





	Misperceptions

**Author's Note:**

> I've adjusted the timeline a little due to continuity issues. This is still close enough to the original episode. And let’s just, for the sake of it, pretend Nick got his hair cut properly before this takes place.

David stared at his reflection in the restroom mirror and sighed. What the hell had he gotten himself into again? And what was it about him that had his female colleagues so _appalled_ by the mere idea of dating him? _Pretending_ to be dating him. For all of one hour! He shook his head at himself and straightened his back. If nothing else, he was a man of pride. He’d just face his mother and tell her the truth. For all his genius and charm, women tended to value his friendship more than his _romantic_ qualities. So what? There was still plenty for her to be proud of, right?

As he made his way back to the trace lab, he mentally prepared himself for the inevitable onslaught of ‘But you have to settle down at some point, David’ and ‘I can’t wait forever for grandchildren’. He should have known better than to lie to his mother, but now was not the time for regrets. There was work to be done.

How he did manage to get his samples processed, he wasn’t quite sure, because his mind kept wandering off frequently, trying to conjure up the right words to use when coming clean to his mother. He recalled a conversation he had had with Grissom once. _We’re not the marrying kind._ He had told him back then. Maybe it was just that simple. _Mother, I’m just not the marrying kind._ Yes, that could work.

As he scrutinized over the fabric of the male victim’s suit in search for fibers and other traces of evidence, he kept the mental conversation flowing. _See, this work I’m doing is important_ , he’d tell her, _fulfilling._ How would a wife and children possibly fit into his busy schedule? His priorities were set on his career. He was an important part of this place, after all. Now, all he could do was hope that she would understand.

“Gotta love a man in uniform!” the all too familiar voice of his mother broke through his musings and he braced himself as he looked up. Here. We. Go.

“Look at you! Like a real doctor!” she exclaimed when she saw him in his lab coat and David knew right there, with Mandy of all people watching from the doorway, that this wasn’t going to be a piece of cake.

“Mother!” he eloquently greeted her, “You’re here. Now.” He so wasn’t ready.

“Well,” she continued, oblivious as usual to his discomfort, “I told you I was coming eventually. Besides, I’m dying to meet _her_!”

David inwardly groaned. This was not a conversation he wanted Mandy to be witness to. It was bad enough that he had sunk so low as to ask her for help earlier that day. He didn't need things to get more humiliating. So he tried for a distraction by steering the topic to the lab’s restrictive policy on visitors. But _of course_ that devious little print tech had outsmarted him in advance and declared rather smugly that she had arranged for an all access visitor’s pass. No getting rid of his mother so easily. Thankfully, at least Mandy left his lab shortly after, albeit not without sending him a malicious smile that basically screamed _schadenfreude_.

His mother kept going with her “I’m just so glad you finally found someone, David!” speech and he briefly considered making up yet another lie about his alleged girlfriend having called in sick today or some other flimsy excuse of that kind.

His mind was racing. “Funny story…” he started, running over possible directions for their conversation to go, “hilarious, really…” he was stalling hopelessly, but his mother yet again interrupted him.

“I was beginning to worry…” _not again_ , he thought. He had heard these words too many times to count. Right there he decided it had to stop. He was a grown man, and not having a woman by his side was not something he should feel this inadequate about. It was _his_ life, not his mother’s. He only caught the end of her sentence but retaliated quickly.

“I’m my own man!” he stated, when his mother declared she was afraid she hadn’t given him enough space to become just that. This woman! David felt like his 15 year old self again as he feebly began defending his work and his choices. Nothing would ever be enough for her, would it? And now she was criticizing the size of his office, too?

Yes, he had to set things straight right here.

“Mother,” he started, trying hard to sound firm when inside he felt like he was about to drop the biggest disappointment of all times on her “I think we need to talk.”

“Got anything off that dress for me, H?” Nick’s voice cut him off, as the CSI sauntered into the trace lab, without looking up from his file folder. David closed his eyes briefly. Great. Just the person he needed for another boost of self-esteem.

“Hello to you, too, Nick,” he ground out sarcastically.

“Sorry, how’s my favorite trace tech doin’ today?” Nick answered with a mocking smile before he finally looked up from the file in his hands and acknowledged David’s visitor.

“Have you met my mom?” David asked wryly and watched in fascination, as Nick’s face changed from mildly distracted to full blown charming.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hodges.” He extended his hand with the slightest bow of his head and gave her that warm smile that seemed to win over anyone he crossed paths with. His mother sure fell for it instantly. And evidently for the rest of him, as well, judging by the way she more than obviously eyed Nick from top to bottom. “Please, call me Olivia,” she said sweetly and David couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Still processing the groom’s suit, but I got results on the dress,” he cut through the embarrassing display and proceeded – for his mother’s sake – to list all the chemical components that made up “denture cleaner?” Nick finished before he could. He then directed his attention to David. “Nice work, now if only you could tell me what that stuff was doing on the bride’s dress.”

David shrugged. “That part is your job,” he quipped.

“What now, no theory? You’re usually the genius around here,” Nick joked and David felt himself blushing. He really didn’t need this kind of teasing from Nick when his mother was still in the room. If he had to place a bet he’d say that jerk was doing it on purpose just to mock him in front her.

Speaking of whom, Olivia Hodges was suspiciously quiet as she appeared to be observing their little exchange.

“Oh my god!” she suddenly exclaimed. “It’s _him_!”

“Excuse me?”

“David! You could have told me!” she babbled on, and it slowly dawned on David (and probably on Nick, too) what she was getting at.  
“Mother!” he hissed, but she seemed to be on a roll already, continuing with her thoughts.

“It’s not like I never wondered, you know. But really, it’s not a big deal, David! I just want you to be happy.” She smiled warmly at the two of them. David felt his face flush all kinds of shades of red and he didn’t dare looking either of them in the eye.

“Yes, David,” Nick grinned and nudged him in the arm with his elbow “you coulda just told her.”

Wait, what? Did Nick find this entertaining enough to play along?

It wasn’t like she was too far off, he may have been harboring a little crush on Nick for a while now – then again, who in the lab hadn’t? But never in his wildest dreams did it occur to him to act on them (ok, maybe in some - but Nick most definitely could not know that.)

Suddenly he felt Nick’s arm around his shoulder, pulling him a little closer.

“Thank me later,” he whispered into David’s ear before turning his attention back to a practically beaming Olivia Hodges.

“I wish I had more time to talk to you, but this case is calling for my undivided attention. It was a pleasure meeting you, _Olivia_ ,” he drawled before excusing himself politely.

“Catch you later,” he winked at David, who stood rooted on the spot, mortified beyond words.

“Oh, David, he’s handsome!” was Olivia’s enthusiastic comment as soon as Nick had left the room.

“He is,” David distractedly agreed. “Look, ma…” he tried again, “there are a couple of things I should clarify…”

Ready to lounge into a full explanation of the story, David was again cut off by his mother’s incessant tendency to not let people finish their sentences.

“There’s really no need, David. I’m sorry if I ever gave you the feeling that this was something you couldn’t talk to me about.” She smiled.

Maybe he should just roll with it, after all, he would rather his mom thought he was gay than a pathetic loser who couldn’t get any. Besides, it wasn’t entirely untrue.

“Okay,” was all he said.

“So, now that that is out of the way, why don’t you give me a little tour of this place?” his mother inquired.

“Just let me finish up here first,” he told her and set about packing up the garments that still lay on the table in front of him.

_What the hell had he gotten himself into?_

***

After showing Olivia around the lab for the better part of an hour, all the while dodging awkward conversation with some of his coworkers, he felt drained. He loved his mother, but she had this terribly officious streak to her that even David considered too much sometimes.

He breathed a silent sigh of relief when she finally seemed satisfied enough to excuse herself for the night, but _of course_ Olivia Hodges could not pass the opportunity to first coax him into promising to share brunch with her in the morning. Preferably in the company of his unspeakably attractive _boyfriend_.

David slumped into his chair in exhaustion and groaned.

***

“Your mom is really something.” Nick grinned as he walked into the trace lab a little while later. David huffed.

“Yeah, about that…” he shrugged helplessly and let the sentence hang in the air. Then he decided to finally drop the question that had been boggling his mind for hours: “May I ask why you decided to play along with all of this?”

“Well, rumor has it you went to a lot of trouble finding someone who would, so I thought I’d do you the favor.” Nick’s answer was so unnervingly nonchalant that David didn’t know how to retort.

“Really?” was all that came out, in a voice a little higher pitched than he felt comfortable with.

“Or maybe I just like to see you squirm?” Nick suggested with a mischievous glint in his eyes. David swallowed.

“Come on,” he laughed in that disarming Nick Stokes way, “that only serves you right for making up a work place romance and lying to your mom.”

To David’s surprise this was said in a playful tone and accompanied by a wink. Nick really seemed to be on top of his game today.

“Yeah, well… she kind of expects you to join us for breakfast now.”

He felt his face contort uncomfortably, wondering how far Nick was willing to let this charade go and trying to gauge whether this was something he could actually ask him to do.

“That’ll cost you extra,” Nick joked. At least David hoped it was a joke. He wasn’t going to pay Nick for his company; that much was for certain.

He answered with a tight-lipped smile. “You know what, forget about it. I’ll just tell her you’re busy with the case. That way it’s going to be you she’s disappointed in, not me.” He shook his head.

Nick grinned. “Suit yourself,” he said and casually leaned back against the edge of the evidence table, arms crossed loosely over his chest. “I was kinda warming up to the idea of being your man, here.” He waggled his eyebrows for emphasis at that.

For a moment David’s mouth hung open in utter shock. Had he heard that right? The nerve of that man! David was no expert but this surely blurred the lines between teasing and flirting.

“Don’t catch flies!” Before David could recover Nick reached out a finger to draw his chin up. Now, the lines had _definitely_ been crossed.

“You used to be better at taking jokes, man, what’s up with you?” Nick chuckled.

After a couple of breathes David began to collect himself, but barely. “You… you actually would go out with me? Us… me… my mom and I?” He babbled incredulously, making Nick laugh and shake his head. It was the perfect moment to drop dead David thought while he cursed himself for being such an ineloquent idiot.

And still, Nick wouldn’t stop. “She seemed quite fond of me, didn’t she?”

“Ugh, yes. You charmed her alright.”

“It’s a date then?” Nick seemed to enjoy the whole thing way too much.

“Okay,” David croaked awkwardly.

There was no way for this day to end in anything but a disaster.

***

The shift dragged on and David couldn’t remember the last time he had been so badly distracted that he needed to take actual breaks from what he was doing. He found himself repeatedly walking into the break room for refills of his coffee mug, which didn’t do much to calm his jittery nerves. This surely was the worst idea he had ever had.

It wasn't like he hadn’t ever considered coming out to his mother – should he ever have happened to be in a serious relationship with another man. (Which was something he had never really come that close to, so the issue had remained hypothetical since his College days.) And _this_ was certainly not how he had pictured it. To have Nick of all people pretend to be his lover. Not that he minded the thought; it was the pretend part that bothered him. But Nick was a ladies’ man, wasn’t he? Whatever had given his mother this crazy idea in the first place? He cursed low under his breath. Maybe he could just stay at work and pretend he forgot about breakfast altogether.

The beeping of the GCMS pulled him from his thoughts. He checked his watch - two more hours to go – then checked the results.

***

“Ready?” Nick’s voice behind him startled David almost enough to bang his head against his locker door. Lucky for him he missed it by barely half an inch.

“So, you really want to do this?” he asked, trying to sound as unfazed as possible.

“Yeah, sure. Free breakfast, as I assume you’re buying?” Nick’s face was all charming and audaciously calm, yet there was a challenging spark in his eyes.

It was actually nice to see him so light hearted, David mused. Lately he had seemed quite sullen and tense.

“I’m nothing if not chivalrous,” he countered good-naturedly.

Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad after all.

***

As it turned out their brunch date was only semi awkward and David started to relax after a while of watching his mother and his not-boyfriend converse as easily as if they had known each other for months - except in that case it would have felt a little less like an interview.

As expected, Olivia couldn’t (or wouldn’t) refrain from inquiring all about Nick’s family background, personal interests and his job working alongside her son. To his credit, Nick managed to smoothly answer all of her questions without seeming in the least annoyed. There were only a handful of occasions where David felt the need to intercept with a warning hiss of “Mother!” when she steered the conversation into rather uncomfortable territory. Such as the inevitable “So, I’ve been meaning to ask all day: How did the two of you get together?”

Nick grinned. He didn’t seem surprised by the question but took no incentive in answering. David inwardly cursed. “That’s rather personal,” he reprimanded her with a look.

“Oh come on,” Nick drawled next to him and nudged his elbow ever so gently, “it’s a legitimate question.” His face turned somewhat expectantly to David, whose eyebrows shot up in a slight bout of panic. This was not something he had prepared himself for, even though Nick was right. In fact, he should have expected it to come up a lot earlier.

“Well…” he began, not ready to share any of his fantasy scenarios, and therefore helplessly scrambling to come up with a feasible story to tell. Nick obviously enjoyed this, as he just kept his gaze upon David’s face in a daring manner and settled back casually into his chair.

“He gets all flustered when he thinks about it.” He smirked when David kept struggling for the right way to start.

“Aww, is that so?” Olivia cooed and leaned forward in Nick’s direction. That left David only a moment to gather his wits until he started contemplating the embarrassing implications of Nick’s words. Surely he wasn’t going to make up a story all by himself now?

“I do not!” he protested almost reflexively. “It was just… we were…” he felt pathetic.

“He got exactly like that when I asked him out,” Nick lied blatantly and Olivia already clung to his lips with her eyes wide open and her lips curled into an encouraging smile.

“It wasn’t really that spectacular,” he continued, and for someone who claimed to be a friend of honesty, his words seemed to flow quite naturally. “We went out with a couple of guys from the lab, there may have been some drinking involved…” He had the decency to fold and unfold his napkin in a nervous manner as he spoke, but otherwise he was as cool and collected as ever. “We were laughing and talking a lot and when everybody started piling out we ended up being the last two remaining at the bar.”

David felt his cheeks flush gradually with every word Nick calmly fed to them, creating a vivid scenario that played out inside his head. And he found himself wishing it wasn’t just a story that his _pretend-date_ was making up but rather an actual memory of something that could very well have happened between them.

“Right, babe?” Suddenly Nick’s hand was squeezing his on the table. Shit! He had completely missed out the last part of the story. “Huh?” he asked stupidly, before quickly adding “Yeah, sure” to whatever Nick had said. Right before he had called him _babe_. Right before he had _squeezed his hand_. On the _table_. At a _restaurant_. In front of his _mother_.

David swallowed. He forced himself to smile but felt like he was failing. What the hell had he been thinking?

A moment later Nick’s phone vibrated loudly in his pocket and he excused himself to answer it. The natural air of importance that surrounded him succeeded in impressing Olivia so much so, that she didn’t even seem upset by this rude interruption of their conversation.

“I’m so sorry,” Nick started when he hung up, “I’m needed back at the lab asap. I really wish we had had more time to chat.”

He stood and made his way over to Olivia’s side of the table in order to bid his goodbye. He wished her a safe trip and then came back around to David. The hug was unfamiliar and stiff, but still warm. And damn, why did Nick smell so good? David cringed inwardly.

“Thanks,” he said quietly, just for Nick to hear. He wasn’t prepared for the full blown Stokes smile that greeted him as they pulled apart just a second later.

“See you at the lab, _babe_.” Nick winked. And then he was gone.

Olivia Hodges was beside herself with joy. “David, he is _perfect_!” she exclaimed and David winced at the tone. “Mother, you don’t have to tell the whole restaurant about your feelings!” he chided and then emptied the last of his orange juice.

After he had paid and helped his mother into her jacket he felt that the worst of the day had been weathered. He was ready to walk his mother to a cab and see her home, but she seemed to have other plans.

“Walk with me,” she said.

***

David couldn’t believe it. When they had stood in front of the shop windows, looking at jewelry he hadn’t thought anything about it, women loved window shopping, after all. But then his mother had grabbed his arm to direct his attention to a display of, well, rings.

“Mother!” he hissed for what seemed like the 70th time that day. “What part of I don’t have a _girlfriend_ did you not understand?”

But his mother just sighed dramatically. “David! Just because you two are men doesn’t mean you can’t tie the knot on your relationship, it’s the 21st century! Besides, if you don’t marry him _I_ will!”

David shook his head as he helplessly followed her in through the door. He briefly considered educating her on the legal status of gay commitment ceremonies and the lack of actual marriage equality but then decided to swallow the thought. Clearly she was driven by sentiment and found the whole idea just too appealing for him to ruin it with facts. Never mind that Nick wasn’t even his boyfriend.

With exaggerated rolls of his eyes he let himself be dragged toward the counter, where a petite blonde greeted them with a plastic smile.

Olivia couldn’t help bragging about her son’s importance at the Las Vegas Crime Lab …and then David’s eyes caught sight of the denture cleaner. Moments later all hell broke loose.

***

He still couldn’t quite wrap his head around how they ended up as hostages inside a high jacked EMT, held at gun point en route to the desert. In all likelihood it was going to be their very last journey. This was even worse than what he had anticipated when he thought the day would end in disaster.

“Please, do something, David!” his mother pleaded with him, succeeding in making him even more agitated than he already was.

“Like what?” he snapped.

“I don’t know. You’re the police person!”

“A criminalist,” he corrected, “I’m a lab rat, mom, that’s it.” He sounded the way he felt: utterly defeated. The whole anticipation of the day finally got the better of him.

“You know what I do all day? I measure and analyze tiny bits of tiny. Is it exciting? Not always. Is it fulfilling? Very much so.”

“David!” she was so obviously scared, yet she regarded him with those big hopeful eyes.

“No!” He stood. “I need to get this off my chest before we die!” He found it disturbing how much faith his mother still seemed to have in his ability to fix this sorry situation. Beside him the fierce little blonde was still waving around her gun. He felt helpless. He was no hero, he wasn’t Nick! He was just a regular geek with a boring personal life.

At that thought an idea crossed his mind. He sat back down with a deep breath and continued with his rant.

“My office is exactly the size it needs to be. Nick is not my boyfriend and I can’t save us!”

Hoping that nobody would see him fumbling with the tape behind his back, he went on with his distraction technique.

“I’m not this police guru that you make me out to be. I can’t. I’m not perfect. All I have is a love for my job and a very detailed knowledge on the physical limitations of duct tape.”

And suddenly everything happened in a rush. He swung his arm around, injecting the woman with the syringe and grabbing the gun from her hands in one surprisingly swift motion.

“What the hell did you do?” The driver asked, as David pointed the gun at his head and told him to pull over. And he’d be damned if he didn’t just ask himself that very same question.

***

His mother seemed to still be in shock, as he helped her out of the EMT and he didn’t let go of her hand. He’d never been so glad to see Conrad Ecklie’s face.

There was a lot of bustling, questions asked and police cars surrounding them with their blinking blue lights. He just wanted to go home.

Conrad offered them a ride back to the Police Department and David was more than glad to just leave his car back where it was still parked at the restaurant. He didn’t exactly trust himself to drive; his knees were still a bit shaky from adrenaline. How were the other guys doing this all the time?

Olivia still held on to his hand when they sat in the back of Conrad's car. He could see the questions written over her face but neither of them was ready to address any of those with the other man this close in earshot.

The ride back wasn't long but after a while David noticed a shift in Olivia’s attention. She kept throwing glances into the rearview mirror and David could swear he saw Conrad's eyes meeting hers every now and then in the reflection.

After everything that happened, was she _serious_?

***

They were both still a little beside themselves when the Officer took their statements back at the station.

They remained seated in the dimly lit room once the papers were signed. It was their first real moment alone and they kept looking at each other wordlessly for what seemed like minutes. David was relieved, but at the same time it worried him how quiet his mother had become. He could see her mind racing behind those fierce blue eyes, but for the first time in, well, all of his life, she didn’t take the initiative to talk.

So it was David who eventually broke the silence between them.

“I’m sorry… for the ruse. I just wanted you to be proud of me.” He attempted a weak smile.

“Proud?” His mother shook her head and smiled in return. “You saved my life! You’re great at what you do, you’re loved by so many, I couldn’t be prouder!” He felt like protesting but words failed him. So he just hung his head and humbly regarded the table. She put her hand on his and continued.

“Besides, I haven't been totally honest with you about my romantic situation,” she confessed. That got his attention.

“What, the Count?” He had had a weird feeling about the whole ‘delayed flights’ business, but now it started to make sense.

“He wasn't a Count. It's possible he doesn't even know how to. He dumped me weeks ago.” She sounded small, almost rueful.

“Oh.” A thought crossed his mind. “What about Italy?”

“Oh, the trip's still on. Non-refundable. So it's penne Bolognese for one.” They both chuckled at that, and on a whim, David’s next words just came out of him without a second thought.

“You know, I have a few vacation days saved up. Would you like to have a travel _amico_?” Now that he had voiced it, the idea sounded pretty appealing. He couldn’t even remember his last vacation.

“Ah, David, that's okay. You don't have to.”

“I know. I want to.” She smiled.

“Besides, it’ll give us a little more time to talk.”

“About you and Nick?” Olivia asked with the raise of her brow.

“There is no ‘me and Nick’,” he ground out in a hushed voice.

“Well, the two of you have a very affectionate way of teasing each other when you talk. I’m sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusion, but I saw what I saw, David. Why do you think he played along with your little charade?”

“He likes to see me squirm, that’s what he said.” David shrugged.

“And why would that be?” his mother pressed on.

“Ugh, what are you suggesting?”

“That you actually go and ask him out on a date, David.”

“No, mom! I… he.. no!” She couldn’t possibly be serious!

“You like him, don’t you? That part was not a lie.”

He blushed profusely and avoided her eyes. That was all the answer Olivia needed.

“Go for it.”

***

When he finally made it back to the lab he felt like he had worked at least a triple shift.

He quickly went by Russell’s office to hand in his vacation request and then made his way to the locker rooms. He passed the break room and caught sight of Nick who stood by the coffee machine, about to pour himself a cup.

“David!” he called out as their eyes met briefly. Damn. He had hoped to just steal out of the lab and be gone for a while in the hopes that any awkward conversation might be delayed until his return, or better yet indefinitely.

But Nick had seen him and motioned for him to come inside.

With weary steps he entered the break room and came to a halt a few feet away from Nick, who immediately crossed the distance and laid his very warm and very unsettling hand on David’s right arm.

“I’m glad you’re okay. I heard you were quite the hero out there.” He smiled but his eyes had a look of serenity.

“I was worried, we all were.” His free hand went behind his head to scratch the base of his neck. The absent minded gesture called attention to his prominent bicep and David reminded himself not to stare. Things were strange enough between them. And Nick's hand was still hot on his skin.

David pulled away. He didn’t know what to say.

“Look,” Nick started and dropped his hand down from his neckline, “I wanted to apologize for anything I may have said or done to embarrass you in front of your mom. Coming out to the family is hard enough without any added teasing, I guess. I didn’t even think about that. I just thought it’d be fun to mess with you a little, you know?”

David found himself speechless, again. An apology was the last thing he had expected.

“I, um.. well, it did kind of make things easier to not do this alone, even if I hadn’t planned for it this way, hadn’t planned for it at all. I mean, I did ask Morgan and Mandy first…” He hadn't meant to say any of that.

“Anyway, can I make it up to you somehow?” Nick asked, his brown eyes shining dark with warmth from underneath his thick brows.

“Go out with me?” David blurted out so fast he didn’t have time to rethink his words and stop himself from saying them. His instant regret faded when Nick began to smile.

“For real this time?”

David’s heart thundered in his chest and he gulped before he slowly nodded his reply.

“Sure,” Nick said.

And just like that the whole ordeal had somehow turned out to have been worth it.


End file.
